Tag Archives: presentations

Listen & Learn for December

By Phil Stella | Published: December 2, 2012

‘How to be a Great Communicator – in Person, on Paper and at the Podium’, Nido Qubein, 2005, Gildan Media Corp.

Lots of reinforcing tips and suggestions from one of the Master Communicators.

Start Strong

By Phil Stella | Published: November 1, 2012

I recently engaged in a LinkedIn discussion group about using jokes in the introduction of a presentation to gain audience interest. Here’s a summary of my rant on that topic.

I totally agree that the first few minutes of any presentation are most important. Start strong, powerfully and engaging – immediately. But, I totally disagree with telling a joke unless you were hired to be an entertainer, it’s an after dinner speech and the only goal is to be humorous. Jokes rarely work in a typical workplace presentation and can create a very ineffective impression from the beginning. It’s often hard to recover from such a weak start.

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Beware Dog & Pony Shows from Hell!

By Phil Stella | Published: October 3, 2012

Team-Delivered Presentations (TDPs) are common in the workplace today, especially with higher-end sales pitches or senior executive project updates. But, unfortunately, so are those that become ‘Dog & Pony Shows from Hell‘. What pushes them over the edge is poor planning and preparation, just as with other facets of workplace presentations.

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And You Can Quote Me!

By Phil Stella | Published: October 3, 2012

( My response to a recent LinkedIn Group discussion question that asked about the value of using quotes in presentations.)

I regularly use a lot of quotes in my training, speaking and writing. However, I’m adamant about putting the sources in proper context. Few people are so well known that they don’t need any reference, like Jefferson, Mark Twain, Churchill, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., etc. For the rest, we need to answer the question the readers or listeners often have – ‘So, who is that guy?’

It doesn’t take much time or effort to go beyond just listing ‘Tom Peters’ to ‘Tom Peters, contemporary American management expert & author of ‘In Search of Excellence‘ Same goes for ‘Oscar Wilde, 19th century Irish poet, playwright & novelist’, ‘Voltaire, 18th century French writer, historian & philosopher’ and ‘Jerry Clower, 1926 – 1998, American humorist & writer’.

Not adding that information can weaken the value of the quote, because who said it may be more important than what he or she said. When listeners or readers encounter quotes without context, they might assume the writer or speaker was too lazy or indifferent to find out that information or assumed everyone knew who that person was  …  possibly making people feel stupid when they don’t.

So, harness the power of using quotes effectively, but take the extra effort to put them in context.. And you can quote me!

So, you don’t do presentations at work …

By Phil Stella | Published: October 3, 2012

(And a recent LinkedIn discussion was about people who don’t make presentations at work.)

Besides delivering presentation training and coaching engagements for corporate clients, I teach a presentation skills course at the University of Phoenix, Cleveland Campus. Unlike many universities, we require all students to take this course and they do Learning Team presentations in all of their other classes.

During my opening comments, I ask students how many of them routinely deliver ‘traditional presentations’ at work. As expected, few hands go up. Then I ask them how many of them routinely talk to one or more people at work about work-related topics. Also as expected, all hands go up. I debrief by indicating most of the presentation content and delivery concepts also apply to face-to-face verbal interactions. That usually get’s some ‘ah-ha’ reactions.

What’s Your Point?

By Phil Stella | Published: May 24, 2011

Once you’ve defined your objects and analyzed your audience, the next step on your journey towards Audience-Centricity is to Develop Your Content. So, what’s your point? Really – what’s the key message you’ll be delivering that you want the audience to understand, remember and agree with after the presentation?

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Smart Practicing Does Matter

By Phil Stella | Published: March 24, 2011

Several site visitors sent in questions recently about how to practice their presentations. I responded to them individually, but thought an overall summary of my comments would be of interest to all of you.

So, let’s assume you’ve planned and organized a world-class audience-centric presentation, created effective speaker support slides and a useful handout. And you’re even ahead of the time line, since the presentation to senior management isn’t for three days.

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